Favorite Fours From Industrious Implementors, 2G
Recommendations by Walter SandsquishSome I.F. writers write more than others. Here are my favorite four games from authors who've released at least half-a-dozen games to date. This list covers 2nd-generation text-adventure implementors, who published the bulk of their work from the Nineties on.
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1. MacWesleyan, by Neil deMause (1995)
Average member rating: 
(2 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Neil deMause mocked school bureaucracy and campus oddities by sending the player on a quest to collect signatures to complete his enrollment.
2. Undo, by Neil deMause (1995)
Average member rating: (16 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
deMause subverted the logic and aesthetics of adventure games with this Dada-like trip into absurdity and self-reference.
3. Lost New York, by Neil deMause (1996)
Average member rating: (19 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
deMause took the player through New York's history with deft prose, engaging puzzles, and time-travel.
4. The Frenetic Five vs. Sturm und Drang, by Neil deMause (1997)
Average member rating: (11 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
5. So Far, by Andrew Plotkin (1996)
Average member rating: (71 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Andrew Plotkin moved the player through surreal alternate dimensions, whose haunting, symbolic nature and disorienting, non-intuitive puzzles conveyed alienation.
6. Spider and Web
by Andrew Plotkin
(1998)
Average member rating: (314 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Plotkin's espionage game depicted a grueling interrogation that revealed a backstory which set-up a remarkable gestalt puzzle.
7. Hunter, in Darkness, by Andrew Plotkin (1999)
Average member rating: (121 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Plotkin constructed a harrowing journey through a claustrophobic space where the player must learn through death.
8. Hadean Lands
by Andrew Plotkin
(2014)
Average member rating: (64 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Plotkin dropped the player into a fascinating alchemical world where time and space had been fractured by an accident. Uniquely, the game allowed the player-character to learn the steps of a process and repeat them with a single command.
9. The Underoos that Ate New York!, by G. Kevin Wilson (1994)
Average member rating: (27 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
G. Kevin Wilson's playfully absurd homage to monster movies was both fun and funny, if simple and sleight.
10. The Lesson of the Tortoise, by G. Kevin Wilson (1997)
Average member rating: (18 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Wilson's interactive account of a marital betrayal exuded the charm and simple wisdom of Oriental folklore.
11. The Sea of Night, by G. Kevin Wilson (1997)
Average member rating: (2 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Wilson required us to fathom the alieness of an organic spacecraft in order to survive a shipwreck.
12. Once and Future
by G. Kevin Wilson
(1998)
Average member rating: (12 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Wilson sent the player-character from the Vietnam War to Arthur's Avalon to the Faerie World to prevent a tragedy.
13. Babel
by Ian Finley
(1997)
Average member rating: (152 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Ian Finley took the player to an antarctic research station where the player-character learned to remember things he didn't want to recall.
14. All Alone, by Ian Finley (2000)
Average member rating: (69 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Finley spooked us with an ominous TV broadcast in this eerie suburban horror story.
15. Kaged
by Ian Finley
(2000)
Average member rating: (51 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Finley channeled the player-character into a mind-numbing revelation in a bureaucratic dystopia. Music and illustrations enriched the effect.
16. The Shadow in the Cathedral
by Ian Finley and Jon Ingold
(2009)
Average member rating: (31 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Finley, with Jon Ingold, pulled the player into a world of intrigue, where clockworks are objects of worship.
17. Arrival, or Attack of the B-Movie Clichés
by Stephen Granade
(1998)
Average member rating: (32 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Stephen Granade crafted a delightful tale of an alien invasion, as seen by a boy. Illustrations and sound effects enhanced the experience.
18. Losing Your Grip
by Stephen Granade
(1998)
Average member rating: (20 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Granade dove into surrealism with this segmented, puzzle-heavy game about a drugged patient in a clinic.
19. Child's Play
by Stephen Granade
(2006)
Average member rating: (53 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Granade created believable infant NPCs and some clever infant-motivated puzzles to go with them.
20. Fragile Shells
by Stephen Granade
(2010)
Average member rating: (51 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Granade constructed a meticulous escape-the-room game concerning an astronaut in a dire situation.
21. Little Blue Men
by Michael S. Gentry
(1998)
Average member rating: (69 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Michael Gentry unsettled players with this strange office story which developed into a sci-fi horror piece.
22. Anchorhead
by Michael Gentry
(1998)
Average member rating: (395 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Gentry then unnerved us by providing clues to a hideous occult horror in this classic game.
23. Jack Toresal and The Secret Letter, by Mike Gentry and David Cornelson (2009)
Average member rating: (8 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Gentry, with David Cornelson, had fun with this adventurous tale of an orphan getting entangled in politics.
24. The Lost Islands of Alabaz
by Michael Gentry
(2011)
Average member rating: (12 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Gentry allowed the children to take charge in this charming story of a boy uniting a maritime kingdom.
25. Muse: An Autumn Romance
by Christopher Huang
(1998)
Average member rating: (31 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Christopher Huang tranformed players into a Victorian cleric who fell in love with young woman.
26. An Act of Murder
by Christopher Huang
(2007)
Average member rating: (80 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Huang generated a post-war mystery with a randomly-determined murderer and a detective who kept a meticulous notebook.
27. Cana According To Micah, by Christopher Huang (as Rev. Stephen Dawson) (2011)
Average member rating: (19 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Huang asked players to set-up the water-into-wine miracle in this Biblical story.
28. Sunday Afternoon, by Christopher Huang (as Virgil Hilts) (2012)
Average member rating: (20 ratings)
Walter Sandsquish says:
Huang allowed a bored child to evade his aunt and uncle to play outside in this Edwardian puzzler.
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